Rhonda and Erica had a falling out in school which continued over texting late into the evening. A contest had begun to see who could text the nastiest and most painful message. In the wee hours of the morning, the messages had taken a toll on Erica and she was feeling alone, misunderstood and depressed. Her thoughts became irrational and she wondered how she could possibly make Rhonda feel as bad as she did. That’s when the thoughts of hurting herself began to emerge, “Wouldn’t it be the ultimate revenge, wouldn’t Rhonda feel miserable if she knew  I killed myself because of her. Then she’d regret all the nasty things she said to me! “

Flaming is a fitting name for this type of cyberbullying as each text sent definitely throws gas on the fire. After hours of this, the fire becomes quite large, large enough to stir up suicidal thoughts.
When you don’t see the pain on the face of the person you are texting, it’s easy to keep dishing out the vicious messages. We need to be aware of the intense emotional pain this can cause. We need to have discussions encouraging kids to step away from technology when they are feeling this level of emotion, to take a break, go take a shower, go for a walk, go shoot hoops, talk to a friend or better yet, an adult they can trust. There are better ways to cope with this feeling than lashing out with cruel words. Once you hit the send button, you can’t take it back!